Paper short abstract:

This paper challenges the common portrayal of Japan as a ‘whaling nation’ with an allegedly centuries-old homogenous ‘whaling culture’. Instead, it is argued that coastal communities in Japan’s northeast have protected whales against whalers from other regions.

Paper long abstract:

This paper challenges the common portrayal of Japan as a ‘whaling nation’ with an allegedly centuries-old homogenous ‘whaling culture’. Instead, it is argued that coastal communities in Japan’s northeast have protected whales against whalers from other regions, as whales were believed to be the gods of the sea that brought fish to the shore. Most famously, on 1 November 1911, over 1000 fishermen burned down an industrial whaling station of western Japanese whalers near Hachinohe in northeastern Japan. This outburst of violence was only the latest example in a series of anti-whaling protests that can be traced back to the seventeenth century.

So far, human interactions with whales in the early modern period have been seen through the lens of (proto-)industrial whaling. However, by focusing on Japanese non-whaling communities, we find that humans have profited from the presence of whales in various ways, even when whales were not actively pursued. It is argued that human interactions with whales were much more diversified than the basic hunter–prey relationship that current whaling historiography describes.

With the advent of industrial whaling in the early twentieth century, the centuries-long non-lethal relationship between humans and cetaceans was destroyed over the span of a few years. In its stead, communities in northeastern Japan adapted elements from western Japanese whaling cultures and invented new whaling traditions, making the Northeast the centre of Japan’s industrial whaling culture. Today, the Northeast’s historical roots as a non-whaling region have been largely forgotten.

Paper short abstract:

Early modern Japanese mountains were a contested border space affording a variety of natural resources to different kinds of actors. “Mountain disputes” (sanron) are analyzed to reveal the entanglements between resources, social structures, and legal practices.

Paper long abstract:

In Tokugawa Japan, mountains were a border space where a multitude of different interests crossed, collided, and coexisted. In contrast to arable land in the plains, which was measured and allotted for tax reasons, mountains were left vague and shifted in uses. They not only acted as borders between villages or other entities, but also accommodated forest commons, mines, and sacred sites. As a consequence, a multitude of actors – villagers, temples, local domains, and the Shogunate – had intertwining interests that needed to be negotiated. The demands posed on mountains changed with environmental transformations and production of knowledge, such as the large-scale clearing of new arable land in the 17th century and the spread of regenerative forestry in the 18th century. In this paper, “mountain disputes” (sanron) in Japan during the Edo period are analyzed to reveal the entanglements between resources, social structures, and legal practices. The dispute settlements shed light on how the extraction of resources was regulated between the actors and how different types of resources were weighed against each other, and thus add to the knowledge on local governance and power structures with regard to resources. Furthermore, practices, technologies, and visualizations are studied which show how borders were both drawn and blurred to mitigate resource conflicts.

Paper short abstract:

Food and dining business significantly developed in the city of Edo in the 19th century. It was greatly enhanced by the popularity of travel and excursions for pleasure. Popular woodblock prints featuring food and restaurants also contributed to the creation of a gourmet culture.

Paper long abstract:

In the 19th century, Japanese food culture significantly developed, solidifying the foundation of the current Japanese cuisine. Before the late 18th century, there were not many restaurants in Edo, however, a variety of types of restaurants appeared in the early 19th century. Many of them specialized in a specific cuisine, including sushi, soba noodles, and grilled eel.

The development of restaurants was greatly enhanced by the growing popularity of travel for pleasure. More and more people in Edo, including commoners, began taking trips to popular tourist destinations, such as Ise and Kyoto. When people were on a trip, they had opportunities to encounter types of foods that they didn’t ordinarily eat in their daily lives, creating a new food experience. As depicted in popular woodblock prints such as the 53 stations of Tōkaidō, local specialties called meibutsu attracted travelers and those kinds of food became well known to people in Edo. Such popular local cuisines had a considerable influence on the development of food culture and the restaurant business in Edo.

In addition, people in Edo often enjoyed outings to temples, shrines, and other popular places in the city of Edo to enjoy beautiful nature as well as entertainment such as theatre and exhibitions. Such places had a number of food shops, tea houses, and restaurants for visitors to enjoy shopping and dining. Running a restaurant in those areas of Edo was often a profitable venture. Those restaurants advertised their cuisine as special or authentic to compete with other restaurants offering similar kinds of food. Some restaurants featured their refined ingredients and other restaurants promoted their original and unique menu offerings. Restaurants used for banquets offered not only excellent cuisine, but also a sophisticated atmosphere to attract wealthy customers.

Variety types of printed materials featuring popular foods and trendy restaurants provided gourmet information in Edo, whetting the appetite of both local people and visitors. This paper discusses how the popularity of travel contributed to the development of a dining culture in Edo by analyzing gourmet guidebooks, board games and popular prints published in the 19th century.